


The Expendables

by bellarkeshittt



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, anyway enjoy!!, basically just the 100 plot but with a spicy new female character, but i really love writing this fic and this character so, it pains me a little to write him a relationship w someone else, i’m bellarke as fuck so i’m surprised my first fic on here is bellamy/oc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:48:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13262031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellarkeshittt/pseuds/bellarkeshittt
Summary: Eirene Kane was destined for greatness, as everyone around her said. Her father was Marcus Kane, an official Council Member, her mother was a well-respected clothesmaker, and Eirene had a natural affinity for medicine. Her life would’ve been perfect, probably, if she had never gotten to know Bellamy Blake.But she would do it all again.





	1. Atterrare

**Author's Note:**

> hello i hope u enjoy my fic. feel free to comment on any errors i made in my writing bc i wrote a lot of this on my phone.
> 
> thank you!!!

"The Chancellor's been shot."

Four words had never struck Eirene harder than those. The statement sent an icy wave through her entire body, a sensation she had only felt few times before. Her jaw dropped in shock as she tried to process the information thrown at her.

Before Eirene could respond, Doctor Abby Griffin had already stalked out of the council room, on her way to tend to Chancellor Jaha. Eirene made an attempt to follow her, but her father stopped her.

"Eirene," he said, "I understand that you want to help, but we need you here. Abby will take care of it."

"Kane!" Callie called from by the monitors. "We need you over here."

Kane gave his daughter a pointed look before joining his comrade to examine the death patterns of the 100, leaving Eirene alone to stare at the doorway through which Abby had left.

•••

Pain was the first thing she registered when she finally regained consciousness. It was all she could feel, seemingly from the inside out. Something fluid was sliding down her face, and sharp aches littered her entire head. Her world was black, and she realized that her head was tilted to the side, resting on the wall of the ship. Upon trying to lift it, she yelped; a sharp pinch in her head objected to the motion. After a few moments of gathering herself, she slowly raised her head off of the side of the ship.

The interior of the ship was absolutely tiny, and extremely rusty. The front windshield was completely shattered, making it impossible for Eirene to see where the hell they had landed. She groaned slightly when she took off her helmet, her entire body screaming at her to stop moving. Finally, she relaxed, taking the moment to observe her surroundings.

Raven Reyes' limp body was to her left, hanging forward on its seatbelt.

"Raven," Eirene muttered, unable to speak at a higher volume.

Eirene reached over to rest her hand on Raven's shoulder. She shook it with as much force as she could muster. Still, Raven did not move.

"Hey, Raven," Eirene said, her motions slightly more frantic. "C'mon, Reyes."

She shook Raven one more time before she heard the extremely relieving sound of small groans coming from Raven's mouth. Eirene relaxed back in her seat for another moment while Raven regained consciousness and took off her helmet.

"Eirene?" Raven asked, noticing her friend. "You good?"

"Never better. You?"

"Fantastic."

"We should get the hell out of here and figure out where we are," Eirene said.

"Yeah, sure," Raven agreed, "I just need one more second."

Suddenly, the door on Raven's side opened, and a face popped up. It was a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. More accurately, it was Clarke Griffin.

"Hi," said Raven.

Clarke looked at Raven fully before shifting her gaze to Eirene. Her already raised eyebrows rose even further. "Eirene? What are you doing down here?"

"That's an explanation I'd rather save for when I get over my mild concussion," Eirene responded, exhausted but glad to see such a familiar face, and glad that Clarke was truly alive.

Clarke helped the new arrivals out of their ship one at a time, Raven first. She came back and wrapped Eirene's arm around her neck, pulling the ailed girl out of the cramped ship and into the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

The first thing she saw was the blinding color of green. It caught her off guard, at first; she had never really seen much color in her life, other than in her mother's matching green eyes. It suddenly felt as if her mother was there with her, however impossible that was. Leaves crunched under her feet, and it became her new favorite sound. Raven stood in the clearing, her arms slightly outstretched, a wide grin on her face. Eirene imagined she looked exactly the same.

The sight of the Earth was one thing, but the feeling of it was an entire other experience. The Ark had always felt so confined, so strict. But Earth―Eirene had been there for all of three minutes and she felt freer than she ever had in her life. She felt like she could run and keep running and never stop. She felt like she could climb trees and hike up mountains and explore old broken cities. This was what life felt like.

She laughed. It was the first time she had truly done so in two years.

A very small part of her arm suddenly felt cold.

"Is this rain?" Raven asked, looking at Clarke.

Clarke smiled. "Welcome home."

Raven and Eirene shared a smile just as a male voice called out from behind them.

"Raven!"

All three girls turned to look at the source of the voice, which was a young man with long brown hair to his shoulders. He ran in from the trees.

"Finn!" Raven dashed right past Eirene to meet him. They held each other for a moment, just looking at each other.

"I knew you couldn't be dead," Raven said, relieved.

Finn glanced at Clarke, then back at Raven. "You're bleeding," he said.

"I don't care," Raven smiled, and leaned in to kiss him right on the mouth.

Eirene smiled. Raven finally got to see the boy she had told her so much about over the past nine days. But when she glanced over at Clarke, who watched them in hurt shock, Eirene's smile faltered. Why did Clarke look upset?

When the lovebirds finally pulled away, Finn asked, "How did you get here?"

"You know that big scrap hold, the one on K Deck?" Raven asked.

Finn glanced at the ship in shock. "You built that from scrap?"

Raven nodded, smiling brightly. "I kind of rebuilt it."

Finn gaped at her in admiration.

Raven laughed. "Please, like that's hard. Just need a couple parts and some love."

"You're insane."

"And I'd do more for you, and worse. Just like you would for me."

Eirene glanced over at Clarke, who was still watching the others with the same expression on her face. Eirene wondered if she felt something for Finn. But, of course not—Finn would not have started something new while he was already with Raven.

Eirene looked back at Raven and Finn just in time to watch Raven nearly fall over before Finn caught her. He led her to a rock, instructing her to sit down, before jogging over to Clarke, who held a backpack. She grabbed some cloth from it and handed it to him without a word.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Let's not talk about this," Clarke said quietly, glancing at Eirene, who pretended she was not listening.

"We've known each other our whole lives―"

"We don't need to talk about it," Clarke said, walking over to Raven, "She needs to put pressure on her wound."

Eirene followed the others to where Raven sat. Clarke turned to her.

"What about you?" she said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel fine," Eirene said. It was a lie. Her head was hurting like a bitch, but she didn't want to take her eyes off of the scenery around her.

Raven put the cloth on her head, smiling at Finn.

"This is Clarke," Finn said to Raven, motioning to Clarke.

"That's Eirene," Raven said back, pointing at the light brunette.

"Wait," Eirene said. "Speaking of you, Clarke―your mom sent us down here."

"My mom?" Clarke asked.

"She was supposed to come down here with us," Raven added, "We couldn't wait, because―oh, my god."

"What?" Clarke asked urgently.

"We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three hundred people to save air," Eirene interjected, slowly remembering their mission.

"When?" Clarke questioned.

"Today," Eirene replied.

"We have to tell them you're alive," Raven said, running back to the ship, the others following.

Raven ducked into the ship. "The radio's gone," she said in disbelief. "It must've gotten loose during reentry. I should've strapped it to the A-Strut. Stupid!" she exclaimed, smacking the ship.

"No, no, this is my fault," Clarke said. "Someone got here before us. We have to find him."

Clarke strode over to the thick woods around the clearing, Raven, Finn, and Eirene at her heels.

•••

"Welcome to the final unit, kids," Mrs. Dunham said, pointing to the screen display, which read "Final War Unit" in large black letters. "Over the last three weeks of school, you will work on your final project for this class. It will only be on this particular unit, but I will assign you your partners myself."

This earned a groan from the students.

Mrs. Dunham rolled her eyes. "Did you really expect anything different?"

The classroom they were in was small, and only thirteen students sat inside. It was the classroom for the eldest level of students. They were in their last year of school before they would all choose their career path and pursue it. 

Eirene was ecstatic. She had wanted to be a doctor since she was four years old and got in trouble for playing with Abby Griffin's stethoscope. Her father had scolded her, but Abby just laughed and explained what it was. Starting when Eirene was eight, she would go to the medical bay everyday after school to watch Abby and the others treat people. Each time, Abby would explain something new to her about being a doctor. And finally, after finishing school, she could move on to find a mentor, be fully educated in medicine, and become a doctor.

Now, though, she had to get trough the final project. Mrs. Dunham reached over to a small bucket which contained slips of paper. "I'll pick two names at a time, you know the drill."

She reached in and grabbed a slip. "Bethany, and. . . Cadence."

"Janiss, and. . . Aro."

"Eirene," Mrs. Dunham announced. Eirene felt a butterfly in her stomach. She didn't want a kid who would do nothing.

"Adrianne."

Eirene glanced at Adrianne's usual seat, which was empty.

"Looks like Adrianne isn't here today," Mrs. Dunham said. "She should be here tomorrow, though."

Eirene nodded, zoning out as the rest of the names were called. That is, until her best friend's name flooded the room.

"That leaves one group of three," Mrs. Dunham announced, looking around the room. "Kora, Hugh, and Bellamy."

Eirene made eye contact with Kora, who was on her left. Kora's face displayed annoyance; Hugh and Bellamy were not exactly the partners one would hope for. Hugh was just plain stupid, and refused to do any work that wasn't elementary. Bellamy, on the other hand, was just extremely quiet. Eirene didn't think she had ever heard him say a single word. He just sat in the back of class, never participated in discussions, and practically sprinted out of the classroom as soon as it ended. Kora was royally screwed.

Which she said herself, ranting to Eirene throughout the entire walk home.

"I can't believe my final grade depends on those two," she finally finished.

"Oh, come on," Eirene argued playfully. "It won't be that bad."

Kora stared at her in disbelief. "Easy for you to say, Miss 'I got Adrianne King, smartest kid in class.'"

"Okay, okay," Eirene laughed. "Touché."

The next day in class began normally. Mrs. Dunham was giving a lecture, as she always did on Tuesdays, and the class took notes. The only oddity was when a Guard member came in, interrupting her tangent about how the United States' claim to innocence during the Final War was entirely untrue. He walked up to her desk and whispered something to her, making her mouth drop in shock. The guard walked out.

"Mrs. Dunham?" Kora asked. "Is everything all right?"

"Eirene," Mrs. Dunham said slowly, "you will now be working with Bellamy on your final project."

"What?" Eirene asked. "Why?"

Mrs. Dunham looked right into her eyes, face blank.

"Adrianne has been arrested."

•••

"There he is!" Clarke yelled, taking off running.

Finn followed close behind her, and Raven behind him. Eirene tried to keep up, but her head had begun throbbing since they had started walking. She had to stop to grip a tree.

"Hey!" she heard Clarke yell, in the distance. "Where's is it?"

"Hey, Princess, you taking a walk in the woods?"

Eirene's blood ran cold at the sound of that voice. She would recognize it anywhere, even in a crowd of thousands. She tried to push herself off the tree so that she could reach him, she needed to reach him. . .

She fell onto the ground as she heard Clarke's voice some more.

". . . it'll be working people, your people. . ." she was saying.

"Bellamy, where's the radio?" Finn's voice asked aggressively. Sounds of shoving ensued.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. . ."

Bellamy. Another chill went up Eirene's spine as she heaved herself up off the ground. She had to get to him, to convince him. . .

". . . He shot Chancellor Jaha. . ."

". . . That's why you took the wristbands. . ."

Eirene stumbled through the trees, falling hard into one, but she stayed on her feet. She could see them now. She could see him now. Well, a very blurry version of him from behind, but him nonetheless.

"Bellamy!" she called, but it came out as a whisper.

". . . Jaha deserved to die, and we all know that. . ."

His voice drew out her strength. She surged forward, into the clearing.

"You're a lousy sh―Eirene!" Raven yelled out as she saw her friend stumble into sight.

Bellamy's body visibly stiffened from behind. He turned ever-so-slowly, likely anticipating what he was about to see. His eyes met hers. That feeling of pure warmth washed over her even through the blinding pain in her head; he was the only thing she could see. And she needed to stop him.

". . . Bellamy, the radio . . ." was all she could manage to say before she saw nothing.


	2. Imparare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always please let me know if you find any errors!!
> 
> enjoy!!!!!

"The labels should reference which side of the war each country was on," Eirene said, looking at the rough sketch on the desk before her.

She glanced at Bellamy, who nodded in agreement. A wave of irritation coursed through her. He rarely input his own opinions; he just sat there, nodding his head all the damn time. Eirene was fed up.

"Seriously?" she sighed. Bellamy looked at her quizzically. "Do you have any individual opinions?"

Bellamy stared back at her silently. She sighed again and turned back to the paper.

"Don't use labels," Bellamy said quietly. "An abundance of words turns people away from something. Use color coding instead. It'll catch more people's eyes and make them want to read the information, as well."

Eirene stared. She had never heard him speak more than that in total.

"Also, the map idea is great, but it would be more interesting with graphics on the side. For example, if we put a box on the side that showed how many nukes the U.S. had, versus Russia, versus North Korea, and so on."

Eirene still stared at him, and he stared back smugly. She composed herself and nodded.

"All great ideas," she said. "Thank you."

Bellamy smirked ever-so-slightly and returned to the paper, taking the pencil from her and beginning to sketch his ideas out.

•••

Eirene heard the sounds of yelling and metal hitting metal before she could open her eyes. Once she did, though, the noises grew louder. She was in some kind of tent, but a small one, and it was empty other than her and the small blanket she was placed on. She rolled off of the blanket to push herself off the ground, but she realized she was on grass. Real, alive, green grass that smelled like something she had never smelled before. So, she decided just to lie there, grass on her arms, tickling her cheeks.

The sound of the tent flap being opened broke through her moment of peace.

"Eirene!" Clarke's voice called worriedly. She reached forward to help Eirene back onto the blanket, but Eirene just looked up at her.

"I prefer the grass," she said softly, giving Clarke a half-smile before resting back onto the grass, this time with her face toward the ceiling.

Clarke smiled back. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

"Well, my head still hurts, but I'm guessing that'll be around for a while. Other than that, I think I'm fine. Great, even," Eirene rambled. It was true―she had never felt better.

"It's the effect of Earth, I think," Clarke said, still smiling. "Being down here makes you want to go out and do as many things as possible."

A crash sounded from outside. Clarke glanced towards the doorway in exasperation.

"What's going on out there?" Eirene asked. "Sounds like trash day," she joked, referring to the Ark's ridiculously loud trash compactor.

Clarke laughed, but the joy faded from her face as she gathered her explanation.

"Well. . . Bellamy did tell us where the radio was, but it's impossible to fix in such little time." Eirene winced. "But, Raven had the idea to send flares up in hopes that they'll see them before they follow through with the Culling."

"That's brilliant," Eirene said. "You're lucky you have Raven now. She'll save your life more than once."

"What about you?" Clarke asked. "Did you continue with med school? We could really use a healer or two."

Eirene frowned. "No, I decided to quit med school. Wasn't really for me, you know?" That was a lie. "But, I still remember a lot of things, so consider yourself up one healer."

Clarke smiled gratefully. "Thank you. Now get some rest; we've got the flares taken care of."

Clarke rose and gave Eirene another soft smile, which she returned. Before she could leave, though, Eirene had a question.

"Wait." Clarke turned around expectantly. "Do you know an Octavia Blake?"

"Yes," Clarke responded. "Do you know her?"

Eirene avoided the question. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Clarke said. "I haven't seen her all day, but she's probably somewhere around here. If I see her, I'll send her your way."

"Thanks," Eirene smiled.

As Clarke left, Eirene wondered if she knew everything about her family's secret. She supposed that talk would have to wait, at least until things quieted down.

•••

"They're great movies!" Eirene argued, smiling. "You can't tell me you don't like them, I won't accept it."

"We'll have to work on your tolerance then, because I don't like them," Bellamy retorted, but he was smiling, too.

Eirene paused. "You've only seen them once."

"Yeah, one time too many."

Eirene's mouth dropped open in fake offense. "How old were you?"

Bellamy crossed his arms over his chest. "Six."

Eirene snorted. "Of course. Six years old is not old enough to appreciate the true beauty that is the Star Wars series."

"It was old enough to recognize the terrible inaccuracies and graphics," Bellamy joked.

"You know what?" Eirene said. "We're watching them. You and me."

Bellamy paused. "What?" he laughed, but it felt slightly less funny.

"Movie night, tonight. It's Saturday."

"There's nine movies," Bellamy said pointedly. "How are we going to watch them all in one night?"

"By starting. . ." Eirene glanced at her watch, "right now."

Bellamy chuckled, standing up off of Eirene's bed and lending his hand to her. She took it, and the two were off to find a public theatre stall to watch one of the few movies that had been saved before the original Arkers took off into space.

•••

Eirene came slowly back into consciousness again when Raven burst into the tent.

"Eirene!" she said, smiling excitedly, Finn right behind her. "It's starting."

Eirene sat up just as they left, hand-in-hand. Her head still ached, but the pain was much duller than it had been. She gathered her strength and pushed herself off of the ground, stumbling a little, but she quickly regained her balance. She trudged out of the tent.

A reddish-purple light hit her eyes as soon as she exited the tent. The hundred stood some distance away, looking up at the flares as the scattered across the sky. Once her eyes focused, Eirene found it quite beautiful. She saw the stars behind the flares and thought of how people used to look at them in wonder. Now, Eirene almost felt sick watching them. Instead, she watched the flares.

She walked up behind the group of people, standing beside someone she didn't know. She spotted Raven, cuddled into Finn and watching the sky with a purely joyful smile on her face. It made Eirene smile, too. Then, she spotted Bellamy, his height and messy hair making him easily distinguishable from the rest of the crowd. Her stomach dropped, and the warm feeling rushed through her again. But she knew it would not last much longer.

Clarke, who had been standing beside Bellamy, looked back at Eirene. She followed Eirene's gaze to the man beside her, and walked back to stand next to her.

"It's kind of beautiful, isn't it?" Clarke asked, both girls' gazes set on the purple sky.

"It is," Eirene said, voice rough because of its lack of use in the past day.

Clarke was silent for a few minutes before she cut in again.

"I didn't know you two were friends," Clarke pressed, referring to Bellamy.

Eirene laughed bitterly. "Not for two years."

This caught Clarke's attention. "What happened?"

Eirene paused. She had known Clarke before, on the Ark, but not to the point where they were close. They were friends, sure, but only by association, as they were two of the privileged, being the children of council members. Their respective sets of parents had been very good friends, so they had grown up together. But when Clarke was arrested, Eirene's opinion of her changed. Eirene respected her for standing up for what she believed in and trying to let the public know the truth. Of course, Eirene could never muster up the courage to do so. She had not spoken to the younger girl in over a year, but from what she had seen today, she trusted her. So, she told her the truth.

With her eyes still on the sky, Eirene said lightly, "I'm the reason his sister was imprisoned."

•

Eirene rushed back to her room as soon as she could without being suspicious. She dashed down the empty hallways and speed-walked through the crowded ones before she finally reached room A-32, after what felt like hours.

"Evening, I," her mother's voice called from the kitchen. "I'm making . . . whatever the hell this is. Want some?"

Eirene, her face flushed and covered in a layer of anxiety, ran to the bathroom in lightning speed. "I'm fine, Mom! I just needed to grab something, Bellamy's cooking dinner tonight."

Her mother noticed the tremors in her voice as she called across the tiny home. She followed her daughter to the bathroom, metal spoon still in hand.

"Eirene?" she asked, watching her daughter shuffle through every item in the bathroom cupboards. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Eirene said, but it came out much more forceful than she intended.

Her mother stepped closer and put a gentle hand on Eirene's back, which she flinched away, frantically tossing thing aside and yelling in frustration as she could not find what she needed.

"Eirene," her mother said gently, grabbing her wrists. "Eirene."

Eirene futilely attempted to get her mother's hands off of her, but gave up after one try. She broke down then, tears streaming down her face.

"Eirene!" her mother exclaimed, worried. "Please tell me what's going on. Please."

"Bellamy. . ."

"Is Bellamy okay?" her mother whispered urgently. "Is he okay?"

"No . . . it's not him, it's . . ." Eirene could not tell her mother. She could not.

"Eirene, please."

The look her mother gave her combined with the hand she stroked across her tear-stunned cheek made Eirene change her mind.

"Bellamy has a sister, Mom. And she's hurt."

Eirene's mother froze entirely. Throughout the time she had been alive, no one had had a sibling―there were only around ten recorded cases of it happening over the years, but they had all occurred before she was born.

"How . . . how long has she been . . ."

"Fifteen years," Eirene said. "Look, I'll fill you in later, but right now we need supplies. She slipped and head her head on something and it's bleeding. Where do we keep the antibiotic ointment?"

"In the kitchen, above the stove. . ." her mother muttered.

Eirene sprinted into the kitchen and grabbed all the supplies she needed before running back to the door. Before she left, she poked her head back inside.

"You coming?"

Her mother, who had been standing in the hallway with a shocked expression, turned to her. She seemed to snap out of her daze.

"Let's go."


	3. Trovare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m thinking this’ll be based off only season 1 bc it’d be waaaaay too long if i did all the seasons
> 
> enjoy!!!

"Octavia?" 

Eirene awoke with a start at the gravelly voice that had just entered her tent. When she looked up, she made eye contact with none other than Bellamy Blake, who, upon seeing her, rolled his eyes and walked away.

Eirene scrambled to grab her jacket and threw it on, walking out of the tent still with some balance issues due to her condition. Bellamy was checking another tent when she jogged up to him.

"Are you looking for Octavia?" she asked him.

Bellamy spared her another side glance before continuing on to the next tent. "Yes."

"I'll help you find her."

He kept walking. "No, thanks."

"Bellamy," Eirene said firmly. He stopped, but he did not turn around.

"We can sort out our differences later, but right now, we both want the same thing," Eirene said. "You might've forgotten, but I love her too."

Bellamy turned around and stalked over to her, face covered in fury and hatred. "You love her?"

Eirene nodded, not backing down. The two were very close to each other now, and Bellamy only had a few inches on her. She wasn't afraid of him, anyway; he would never touch her. Not even with his new, arrogant façade he was putting up.

"You're the reason she's missing in the first place," he said, scathing.

"Blame me for everything. I don't care. But I'm helping you find her, and you can't stop me."

Bellamy's nostrils flared. His eyes shot daggers, but they could not pierce her. Eirene could tell he knew she was right, but he was still so angry. He needed time. And she would give that to him, but only after they had found Octavia.

"Fine," he said, practically spitting the word at her. "You can help me. But only because I just want to find her."

•••

Eirene knocked on Bellamy's door at exactly midnight on April eighth, paper bag in hand. She waited patiently for a few minutes before knocking again, her foot tapping slightly.

The door cracked open to reveal one brown eye and a few freckles behind it.

"Eirene?" Bellamy asked, voice even raspier than usual. She had likely woken him up, but that was the point.

Eirene pushed on the door gently, indicating that she wanted him to let her inside. He obliged hesitantly, looking both ways outside before shutting the door.

"We're not allowed outside this late," Bellamy whispered, scolding her as she sat down on his couch and set the bag down on the coffee table, reaching inside. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean I'm not allowed outside this late," Eirene said cleverly. "But, as of about two minutes ago, you are."

She pulled out a small tin that held a brown cake inside of it, offering it to him. It read "Happy Birthday" in green icing in sloppy handwriting.

"Happy eighteenth birthday, Bellamy Blake," Eirene said, smiling as he looked at the cake in surprise. "I bought the cake, but it looked really plain, so I put 'Happy Birthday' on there. That's why it looks like a three-year-old wrote it."

Bellamy, whose mouth was still slightly agape, tore his gaze from the cake and looked at her.

"It's chocolate," Eirene said. "Figured I couldn't go wrong with chocolate."

Bellamy stared at her for a few moments. Eirene felt a bit awkward, so she said, "Wanna eat? I'll cut you a piece with more frosting--"

Bellamy took the cake from her hands and gently sat it on the table before he turned back to her, looked at her for a few moments, and engulfed her into a warm, comfortable hug. She smiled into it, happy that he liked her present.

"Why did you do this for me?" Bellamy said once the pair were comfortably sat on the couch, plates of cake in hand, facing each other.

"Well, I. . .I read that dumb world history book you lended me, and I was really interested in the birthday chapter. You've talked about how cool it was before, so I figured you should celebrate your own for once. The eighteenth birthday is a pretty special one, too, I read."

Bellamy watched her say those words with eyes that held so many things inside of them, and she found herself hoping to learn every last one.

"Thank you," he said deeply. "I can't remember the last time I had cake."

Once they had finished their slices (Bellamy had two), Eirene spoke up.

"Oh!" she said. "I almost forgot."

She reached into the bag, pulled out a chunky, silver-lined ring, and handed it to Bellamy. When he realized what the pendant was, his eyes lit up. It was a tiny sphere painted to look like Earth.

"Did you make this?" Bellamy asked, turning it over in his hands.

"The Earth part, yeah," Eirene said sheepishly. "You always talk about how much you love looking at it through the windows, so I figured: screw the windows. The world is always at your fingers."

"Didn't know you could be so poetic," Bellamy noted.

"At times," Eirene smiled.

"Thank you for all of this, Eirene," Bellamy said. "As pathetic as it is, this has actually been the best birthday I've ever had."

"It's not pathetic," Eirene said. "It's. . . an opportunity to build better things off of."

Bellamy nodded, giving her a look that drove her stomach crazy.

•••

"Hey, everybody!" Bellamy called to the kids who were awake. "Gather around, and grab a weapon. My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up, we're not coming back without her."

The kids filed in to grab spears, axes, and daggers. Eirene chose an axe. When she turned around to join the crowd, Bellamy stood, watching her without emotion. Upon her noticing he tore his gaze away and walked over to Clarke, who was speaking to a skinny boy with shaggy brown hair.

Eirene sighed, looking up at the sky again. It had become a fascination of hers, the sky; it was just so blue, she could not believe it. It was nighttime, though, and the usual light blue was replaced by navy, dotted by a few light clouds. Eirene still thought it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, if it were not for the stars, of course.

Next to the half moon, a tiny light flickered, falling a short distance. Eirene guessed it was a shooting star, but then another one came into view, and another, and another. Soon, a whole chunk of the sky was covered in tiny lights that fell, flickering. Eirene's stomach dropped. She knew exactly what they were.

"Guys, do you see that?" a boy said loudly, pointing up to where Eirene was looking.

All of the kids seemed to be talking at once, mumbling about the lights in the sky. Eirene drowned it all out, until―

"They didn't work," Raven said, walking out of her tent and gazing at the sky. "They didn't see the flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy asked rudely. Eirene could not believe his shift in personality.

"It's not a meteor shower," Eirene said, still watching the lights fall. "It's a funeral. The bodies being returned back to Earth from the Ark―this is what it looks like from the other side."

"They didn't get our message," Clarke said, turning to Raven.

Raven's face filled with anger. "This is all because of you!" she yelled, storming towards Bellamy.

Eirene reached out and grabbed Raven before she could attack him. She was soon accompanied by Finn and Clarke.

Bellamy put a hand out. "I helped you find the radio," he said pointedly.

"Yeah," Raven said venomously, "after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!"

"Yeah, he knows," Clarke said, holding Raven back. "Now he has to live with it."

Bellamy swallowed, and Eirene knew he was feeling more than he let off.

"All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm going to find her," he said, looking at Finn, Raven, Clarke, and Eirene. "You coming or what?"

"Yeah," Finn said.

Eirene nodded, but Bellamy did not spare her a glance.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he said, addressing the entire group. "Move out!"

Bellamy stalked away, along with many others.

"We have to talk to them," Clarke said worriedly. "Three hundred won't be enough. The oxygen level will just keep dropping. And if we don't tell them that we can survive down here, they'll kill more people. They have to."

"Guys," the shaggy-haired boy from before said quietly. He looked rough. "They're leaving, we've got to go."

Finn started to walk with him, but he was still attached to Raven by the hand.

"I've got to do this," he said to her. "And you should stay and fix the radio, okay?"

"Fix it?" Raven said exasperatedly. "The transmitter's smashed. Unless there's a 'Parts Depot' down here, we're not talking to the Ark."

Clarke looked deep in thought. "Art supply store," she said, looking at Finn.

Finn shifted on his feet. Raven looked with slight suspicion at him before turning to Clarke.

"I know a place you might be able to get a transmitter," Clarke said to her.

Finn averted his eyes.

"Great," Raven said, clearly missing something. "It looks like you're coming with me instead."

"Finn?" the shaggy-haired boy said. "We're not going to find her without you."

Finn looked between the two girls. 

"Be careful," he said, seemingly to both of them.

"C'mon," he said to Eirene next before turning around to leave.

"Hey," Raven said, grabbing his wrist, turning him back around to face her. She kissed him. "I love you," she muttered.

Eirene noticed Clarke looking away, and she knew something was up. Maybe she could question Finn about it.

"I love you too," he said, almost hesitantly, before he joined Eirene and the shaggy-haired boy on their way to catch up with the others.

•••

Bellamy's eye peeked through the crack in his door, and, yet again, Eirene stood before it.

"Come on," he whispered, grabbing her elbow and practically dragging her inside before shutting the door and locking it.

"Bell?" Eirene asked, suddenly alarmed by his urgency. "What's going on? Why did you call me over here?"

"I have something to show you," he said almost too fast for her to understand. He was visibly shaking, and he only paused for a second before he practically sprinted to the door that led to his bedroom.

"Bellamy!" Eirene yelled. When he stopped and turned back to face her, she said, "Wait."

"What?" he asked, pacing back to her impatiently.

"You're shaking," she said, grabbing his hands to steady them. Hers barely covered half of his, and were much colder, but the action still slowed his breathing back to normal. His hands steadied in hers. 

"Sorry," Bellamy closed his eyes and opened them again after taking a deep breath, "I've just never told anyone this before."

Eirene's eyebrows rose slightly. "Told anyone what?"

Bellamy hesitated, looking at her with eyes that held some form of fear. She did not understand -- she had always been the reason for his smile. She did not like being the reason for the opposite.

"What is it? You can tell me anything," Eirene pressed.

"I can't tell you, actually," he said. "I have to show you."

And with that, he opened his bedroom door.

Inside stood a young girl of about 12, with chocolate-brown hair that stretched down to her chest and light blue eyes. She was beautiful despite being dressed in clothes that had tears and stains all over them. They looked to be seen together by someone with very little experience. The girl seemed to be just as curious about Eirene as Eirene was about her, and saying Eirene was curious was an understatement.

"Who is this?" Eirene asked slowly, going with a neutral response.

"Eirene, this is Octavia," he said, gesturing toward the little girl, who smiled nervously. "Octavia, this is my best friend, Eirene."

Bellamy gave Octavia a pointed look, and she quickly turned to Eirene and said, "Hello, it's very nice to meet you," before offering Eirene her hand. 

Eirene took it, still staring at the girl before her. "Nice to meet you too," she said. "No offense, but why exactly are we meeting?"

Octavia looked to Bellamy at that, letting him answer for her. Eirene followed her gaze to look at him as well.

Bellamy fidgeted. "Octavia is . . . my sister."

•••

"I'm Jasper, by the way," the shaggy-haired boy said, dodging a low-hanging tree.

"I'm Eirene," she said, giving him a friendly smile.

"You came down in the pod, right? You and the girl who's with Finn?"

"Yeah, Raven," Eirene replied, stepping over a tall log.

"That's pretty cool," Jasper said, looking at her with respect. "How did you do it?"

"Don't ask me," Eirene said, laughing. "Raven's the genius. She got us here."

"So why did you come?" Jasper's question was innocent, but it still made Eirene stiffen. He noticed. "Sorry, I don't mean to intrude―"

"It's fine," Eirene said. "I knew a couple people down here, and I knew the Ark was dying, so I figured, if I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die on Earth."

"Good plan," he responded as the group ahead of them stopped.

The large group walked for a long time, and Eirene found herself explaining her life on the Ark to Jasper. He was so friendly, and so genuine, that the words just flowed from her mouth. She told him about her parents, her dream, and how reality overthrew it. He told her about his best friend, Monty, whom she had yet to meet. He explained that the two of them had gotten caught doing drugs, which made her chuckle.

"Look!" someone called after a few hours. "Over here!"

Eirene and Jasper caught up to hear Bellamy say, "What is it?"

"Right there, do you see it?" the boy said, shining his flashlight over a plant at the bottom of a steep drop. "Is that Octavia's?"

"Rope," Bellamy commanded. Someone handed him rope and he bent down to tie it to a trunk.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"We need the rope to get back up," Bellamy explained, and tossed the rope down the slope.

"Flashlight," he said, reaching out to someone as they handed him one. 

He really is the leader of this place, Eirene thought.

He held the rope and lowered himself down, inspecting the bush. He picked something up off of it and looked at it.

"It's hers!" he called back up to the others. "I'm going all the way down!"

Eirene walked to the rope and began to lower herself down, too. When she reached the bottom, she saw Bellamy crouched over a rock, shining a flashlight on it. There was a red stain on it, and when he touched it, his hand came back with a red liquid on it. Blood.

Eirene crouched next to him and touched it herself. She looked up at Bellamy, and they exchanged a knowing glance.

Jasper landed on the ground behind them, and then Finn.

Eirene ignored them and grabbed the flashlight that Bellamy had in his hand. He did not let go of it, so she simply moved his hand to focus the light on the ground only about a foot away from them. A footprint lay there in the mud, much too big to belong to Octavia.

"Someone else was here," Bellamy said. Eirene nodded.

"The prints are deeper going that way," Finn said, pointing in front of them. "He was carrying her."

Bellamy swallowed again, and Eirene looked up at him. He tried to ignore her, but eventually gave in. Once he did, she could read everything he was feeling right through his eyes. They gave away all of the fear and desperation hidden inside of him. She knew he was terrified.

From behind them, Jasper said, "If they took her, she's alive. Like when they took me."

Bellamy broke eye contact with Eirene and nodded at Jasper, standing up and walking in the direction of the footprints with determination.

•••

Octavia shrieked, giggling as Eirene tickled her on the stomach, where she was most sensitive.

"Okay, okay!" she pleaded between her laughter. "Stop, stop, I'll tell you!"

"Okay," Eirene's hands stilled. "Tell me."

Octavia opened her mouth as if to speak, but then jumped up and ran across the room.

"Ha!" she yelled. "I tricked you!"

Just then, Eirene noticed Bellamy walk in and signaled for him to stop. He did, giving her a questioning look.

"Ah, but my dear Octavia, it is I that has tricked you!" Eirene said wickedly, and motioned for Bellamy to show himself.

He seemed to understand what was going on based on what Eirene had said, and he trapped Octavia in the corner. She screamed, surprised, and Bellamy "attacked" her with tickles until she had finally admitted defeat.

Eirene was laughing hysterically, and when Aurora walked in to scold them for being too loud, she found that she didn't have it in her. Instead, she sat on the couch next to Eirene and laughed with her, thinking that maybe, just maybe, the trouble was worth it.

•••

After a half hour of following the tracks, the group came to a halt. Eirene, who had been staring at the trees, looked up to see what had caused the stop.

Chills ran down her spine when she realized she was looking at a path surrounded by human skeletons. They were tied to poles, hanging, and some were even just lying on the ground.

"I don't speak grounder," Finn said slowly, "but I'm pretty sure this means 'keep out.'"

"Let's get out of here, this is crazy," someone said from Eirene's right.

Others agreed, turning around and heading back toward camp.

"Go back if you want," Bellamy said. "My sister, my responsibility," he muttered.

Eirene's eyes widened at that statement. He had told her the story of when Octavia was born years ago. His mother had said that to him when he was only seven years old, and she hadn't heard him say it in a long time.

He surged forward, past the skeletons. Eirene followed him. After all, she considered Octavia to be her sister, too.

"I'd walk into hell to find her," Jasper muttered from behind Eirene. She smiled to herself.

"I think we just did," Finn said.

•••

"And the official end of World War II was when . . ." Eirene began.

"Um . . .The U.S. dropped the bombs on Japan and they surrendered!" Octavia answered.

"Yes!" Bellamy said proudly. "How many bombs were there, and on what cities were they dropped?"

"There were two, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"How many casualties?" asked Eirene.

"Somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000," Octavia finished.

"That's it for today," Bellamy said, smiling. "You've improved your learning so much lately, O. I'm proud of you."

He ruffled her hair, and she rolled her eyes but smiled. "Thanks, Bell."

Octavia waltzed back into Bellamy's room (where she went for privacy) and shut the door, leaving Bellamy and Eirene to sit on the couch together.

"She's a little smartie," Eirene said adoringly.

"You know, ever since you showed up, she's been working so much harder on her studies," Bellamy said thoughtfully. "I think meeting someone other than me or Mom really helped her. It's like she suddenly has hope for her future. I like it."

Eirene smiled. "It wouldn't be possible without her kickass teachers, though," she said.

Bellamy laughed and did . . . well, some version of a karate move. Eirene laughed so hard she snorted, which only invited another round of laughter. 

"Never do that again," she said once they finally calmed down. On the inside, though, her heart had done a flip, like it always did around him.

"Agreed," Aurora said from the doorway, where she leaned against the frame. She was smiling at them in the way that only mothers could do, and Eirene was hit with the sudden feeling that she was where she belonged. Where she would belong forever.

•••

"I've got nothing," Finn said. "We lost the trail."

The group had been walking for hours, and daylight was finally breaking again. The forest was oddly quiet. Eirene had chosen to walk beside Jasper again, as she found him to be good company. He diffused the tension and anxiety she felt.

"Keep looking," Bellamy said harshly.

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister," Finn explained. "We should backtrack―"

"I'm not going back," Bellamy objected, stopping and crossing his arms.

"Hey, where's John?" Roma asked from the back of the group.

Everyone looked back, but John had disappeared.

"I just saw him a second ago," Jasper whispered.

"Spread out," Bellamy ordered. "He couldn't have gotten that far."

Eirene turned back around, ready to head off to her right, when she heard a thump from behind her. Upon following the source of the noise, she saw John's dead body had fallen from above.

"Oh, my god," Eirene gasped, jogging over to his body immediately. Finn and Bellamy joined her. She looked up at where it had fallen from.

"They use the trees," Finn said.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary."

"Now can we go back?"

"There," Jasper said, pointing to a man who was standing a fair distance away.

"Another one," Diggs said, terrified, looking in the opposite direction.

"Run!" Eirene yelled, and she took off in the only direction available. The rest of the group followed closely behind, wasting no time.

They ran as fast as they could, in the only direction that grounders were not. An alarming thought sparked up in the back of Eirene's mind: what if they're leading us a certain way? But she did not have time to consider it, for she was pushing her body as hard as she could, and trying not to roll her ankle on the bumpy Earth terrain.

"What are we going to do? They keep heading us off!" Diggs yelled, jumping over a log.

"Just keep running!" Finn yelled back.

"I can't run much longer!" Jasper said, his barely-recovered state catching up to him. He had filled Eirene in on what happened to him―how the grounders speared him in the chest and took him before stringing him up like an animal for the others to see.

"I'm not stopping for him!" Diggs yelled.

"I'm sick of running, anyway," Bellamy said, stopping to face the group.

"Bellamy, what are you doing?" Eirene asked exasperatedly.

"They know where she is," he responded.

Roma cut off the conversation before it even started. "Diggs, where are you?" she called, sprinting off.

"Roma!" Diggs' voice came from a distance.

The rest of the group took off after her, running across the clearing and into more trees. A scream sounded from just in front of them―Roma's.

The rest of the group caught up to her, but she started running again.

"Wait, Roma! There could be more!" Finn yelled after her, running.

"Wait, stop!" Bellamy yelled.

Finn and Bellamy halted to a complete stop in front of the dead body of Diggs. He was hanging off of a horizontal tree trunk, which had apparently stabbed right through him. Eirene and the others stared in shock.

"They were leading us here," Jasper said. "It's the only direction we could run in."

"Hey," Finn whispered. "Where did they go?"

Bellamy looked in front of him. "After Roma," he said, sprinting yet again. Eirene, Finn, Jasper, and Monroe followed suit.

A few minutes of running took them to a tree which had someone's shoulder poking out from behind it.

"There she is," Monroe said. "Roma!"

Roma did not move.

Eirene took off to reach her, a bad feeling in her gut. Bellamy was right behind her when they saw that she had not been standing behind the tree, but speared to it; she was dead.

Bellamy reached forward and closed her eyes with his fingers. Eirene watched him.

"She only came because of me," he said, staring in guilt.

"Bellamy. . ." Eirene started, but could not finish.

Bellamy looked at her, devastation written all over his face, and she realized she had not seen him this vulnerable in years.

The moment was cut short when Finn said, "They can kill us whenever they want."

"Then they should GET IT OVER WITH!" Jasper burst, screaming. "C'MON!"

"Jasper, stop!" Finn yelled, grabbing him.

"WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! YOU WANT TO KILL US―"

"Jasper, stop!" Finn yelled, shaking him, and he shut up.

It was too late. Grounders were coming from all different directions, weapons in hand. The group from the sky formed a circle, ready to defend themselves, when a horn began blowing from far away. The grounders looked around and started retreating.

"They're leaving," Bellamy said.

"That horn, what does it mean?" Jasper asked, looking around.

"Acid fog," Finn said, ripping his bag open and extracting his tent.

"We have to run," said Monroe.

"There's no time," Finn declared.

He set the tent up halfway, and everyone crawled into it. It was a tight fit, so they had to lie down flat on the ground, right next to each other.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper asked.

"Will this even work?" Monroe asked.

"We'll find out," Finn responded from Eirene's right.

"No, we won't," said Bellamy impatiently from Eirene's left. He lifted the material of the tent to poke his head out. When he didn't immediately begin to scream in agony, Eirene took it as a sign that it was clear, so she poked her head out, too.

"There's no fog," Bellamy said, lifting the tent off of the others.

"Maybe it was a false alarm," Finn wondered.

"They're coming back," Bellamy said, pointing to a man who was running through the trees. Eirene felt fear plunge back into her stomach.

"I think he's alone," Eirene observed quietly.

"Now can we run?" Monroe whispered.

"He doesn't see us," Bellamy said. "I'm going after him."

"And what?" Finn asked. "Kill him?"

"No. Catch him, make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him," Bellamy said, standing up to walk after the grounder.

Eirene sighed and rolled her eyes a little, but she was determined to find Octavia, and to make sure Bellamy didn't get himself killed, so she followed him.

The five followed the grounder for a short while, until he stopped at a hill. He lifted a camouflaged piece of land and set it aside, jumping underground. The piece of land slide back over to hide the entrance.

"C'mon, let's go," Bellamy said, jogging toward where the grounder had just entered.

When they got there, Bellamy lifted the piece of land up off of the ground and jumped in first, looking around for any assailers. It was clear, so Eirene jumped in next, and then Jasper, Finn, and Monroe.

Bellamy led them through a tunnel which was decently long, and he followed it to the end. He stopped, put his hand back to stop Eirene, and checked the room to make sure it was clear.

A voice from inside the room called, "Bellamy?"

It was Octavia's voice. Eirene didn't have to see her to know it belonged to her. That voice was the source of half of her happiness for so long; it giggled and cracked jokes and asked questions about life outside of her quarters. Eirene jumped past Bellamy when she heard it. She couldn't help herself.

When Octavia saw her, her entire face lit up. "Renie? What―what are you doing here?"

"What do you think, O?" Eirene laughed, running toward her, kneeling onto the ground beside her, and engulfing her in a hug (which was slightly awkward because of the fact that Octavia was still somewhat chained up, but neither of them cared). They squeezed each other as tightly as they could, only breaking apart when Bellamy put his hand on Octavia's shoulder. Eirene let go of her and let her be unchained by Bellamy, who then hugged her as well.

Only then did Eirene notice the limp body lying on the floor behind her. She stood up and made eye contact with Finn, who noticed the same thing.

"How did you find me?" Octavia exclaimed, hugging Jasper.

"Followed him," Jasper replied, nodding at Bellamy, who had also rounded on the unconscious man.

"We should go, now, before he wakes up," Octavia announced.

"He's not gonna wake up," Bellamy said dangerously, picking up a spear that had been resting against the wall.

"Bellamy, stop," Octavia protested. "He didn't hurt me, let's just go."

"They started this," Bellamy argued. 

"Hey, hey, maybe we should slow down and talk about this first," Eirene objected.

"We don't have time for that," Bellamy decided, glaring at her. "Finn. Move."

Finn, bent down over the man, was observing an item hooked onto his belt. He muttered something that Eirene couldn't quite catch. Just as she was about to ask him to repeat himself, the grounder jerked upwards and thrust a dagger into Finn's chest, sending him backwards. He kicked Bellamy's feet out from under him, but he shot back up in a split second. As they struggled, Octavia and Eirene dashed to Finn's side. Eirene tore part of her shirt off and applied pressure to the wound.

"Stop, that's my brother!" Octavia yelled from beside her. She turned to see the grounder with the spear angled at Bellamy's neck, pushing further and further each second. Eirene looked to Jasper, but he stood, frozen, looking between Finn and Bellamy. She stood, ran to another spear on the wall, and smashed the grounder's head with it. She spared Bellamy a single glance before running back to Finn, who was struggling to stay alive.

"We need to go. Now!" she yelled, and they made it back to camp in record time, even with an extra body to carry.

When they arrived at the front gates, Jasper began screaming for Clarke, Eirene and Octavia next to him. She emerged from the crowd.

"Hey, I'm here. What's up?" she asked.

At that moment, Bellamy stumbled through the gate, carrying a lifeless Finn with a knife in his chest that had a piece of bloody cloth tied around it.

"Finn," she said quietly. Then, "Finn!"

She ran to him, Eirene after her.

"Oh my god," she was muttering, "oh . . ."

She felt his neck for a pulse.

"He's alive," Eirene said, saving her the trouble. "I kept checking on the way here. He needs serious medical help."

"Yes, yeah, um . . ." Clarke tried.

Eirene, noticing her struggle, took over. "Get him in the dropship. Now!"

The boys hurried him into the dropship and Eirene followed. Raven caught her. 

"Can you save him?" she asked desperately.

"No, not alone," Eirene said. "I need Abby Griffin. I need to talk to her. She could get me through it."

At that point, Clarke appeared next to her.

"There's still no radio," Raven stuttered, visibly freaking out.

"Raven," Clarke said, grabbing her shoulders, "fix it. Go!"

With that, Clarke and Eirene exchanged one small glance before sprinting into the dropship to save Finn's life.


	4. Salvare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one has no flashbacks bc this episode had like no breaks and it was hella intense

The storm outside was the most powerful one they'd experienced yet, or so the others had told Eirene. She probably would've enjoyed staring out the dropship door at it, watching the huge drops of water fall in groups of thousands as the flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder tore through the sky, but instead, she was holed up towards the back, pressing down an already soaked-through cloth on Finn's wound which still contained the dagger.

Raven was desperately trying to reach Ark Station on what she had managed to save of the radio to no avail. Clarke was just walking around, probably because she didn't know what to do with herself. Eirene was stuck with the job of the one forced to look at his pale face, which didn't bother her as much as it did the other two, so she didn't mind too much.

Eirene had been through medical training, that much was true, but only the first year. Each medical student was assigned to a mentor who was already an official doctor or nurse on the Ark, and Eirene was paired up with none other than Head Doctor Abby Griffin herself. Abby had been like a second mother to Eirene while she grew up, and she had chosen Eirene herself, even though she was quite busy with her job. So, Eirene had been trained for a year by the best doctor on the Ark, and she still didn't know how to fix Finn's god damn stab wound. She was reeling.

Sure, she hadn't been in medical training for a few years, and stab wounds that deep require a lot of experience, but she couldn't help feeling frustrated and useless. She had told Clarke just yesterday that she was a healer, and now she couldn't even heal her first patient on Earth.

She sighed, reaching for a new, dry cloth to redress the wound with. As she began applying pressure again, she heard a voice finally reply to Raven's calls.

"This is a restricted channel. Who is this? Please identify yourself."

"This is Raven Reyes. I'm from Mecha Station. I'm transmitting from the ground," she said quickly. "The hundred are alive. Please, you need to get Doctor Abby Griffin. Doctor Abby Griffin. Now!"

"Hang on, Raven, we're trying to boost your signal."

There was a pause.

"Raven, are you there?" asked a female voice. Eirene knew it was Abby's. She smiled to herself. Maybe she could do this after all.

"Mom?" Clarke asked into the radio. "Mom, it's me."

"Clarke?" Abby asked in disbelief.

"Mom, I need your help. One of our people was stabbed by a grounder."

"Clarke, this is the Chancellor," the radio uttered. "Are you saying there are survivors on the ground?"

"Yes," she replied. "The Earth is survivable. But we're not alone."

Another pause.

"Mom, he's dying," Clarke said, looking at Eirene. She nodded. "The knife's still in his chest."

"Clarke, is my son with you?" Chancellor Jaha's voice spoke through the radio.

Eirene looked down. She had been told the news already. She wasn't close to Wells, but she knew Clarke had been. She knew he was a genuine person, despite some of the things his father said and did. She couldn't help but mourn him a little. And now Clarke had to tell his father of his fate.

"I'm so sorry," Clarke said. The room was silent other than the pitter-patter of the rain on the metal of the dropship. "Wells is—Wells is dead."

Yet another pause. It was longer this time.

"Is Eirene there?" Abby's voice asked.

"Right here, Abby. I think I can do this, I just need some help," Eirene chipped in.

"Thank God," Abby sighed happily. "We can talk later. Right now, I'm gonna walk you through it step-by-step."

The dropship rattled loudly, and the storm grew heavier. Abby attempted to speak, but all Eirene could hear was gibberish. The radio was losing signal.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Clarke asked from beside Eirene.

"It's not the radio, it's the storm," Raven called out. 

Octavia arrived with two makeshift bottles in her hands. While Eirene continued to apply pressure to Finn's wound, Clarke grabbed one. She took a whiff.

"Ugh. Monty's moonshine?" Clarke asked.

"Pretty sure no germ could survive it," Octavia replied.

The dropship rattled again.

"The storm's getting worse," Clarke observed. "Monroe, close the doors."

"We still have people out there," Monroe objected.

"Monty and Jasper still aren't back yet," Octavia explained. "Neither is Bellamy."

"It's alright," Eirene said. "They'll find somewhere to ride it out. Right now, we need to keep ourselves alive so we can keep him alive." She nodded to Finn.

Raven strode up to Eirene, holding her hand out. "One suture needle," she said, all business.

"Perfect," Eirene took it. "I still need something to close the wound."

"There's some wire on the second level," Clarke suggested.

"Yeah, I use it for tents," Octavia added.

"Let's see it," Eirene said. Octavia nodded, setting off.

"Stay away from the blue wires that run through the ceiling. I rigged it to the solar cells in the roof," Raven said to her as she left. "That means they're hot, you got that?" she called.

"Yeah, I got that," Octavia called back.

Raven turned to Eirene and Clarke. "Tell me you guys can do this."

Neither one of them replied.

"Hey, they're back!" someone yelled from near the dropship door.

Bellamy walked in, followed by two other boys carrying a man's limp body. It was the grounder that took Octavia.

"Bellamy," Octavia said, "what the hell are you doing?"

"It's time to get some answers," Bellamy replied.

"Oh, you mean revenge?" Octavia challenged.

"I mean intel," he snapped. He turned to his goons. "Get him upstairs."

They did just that.

Clarke stepped in. "Bellamy, she's right."

The radio spoke. "Clarke, Eirene, we're ready," Abby's voice called.

"Like hell she is," Bellamy responded.

Clarke sighed and turned to look at Eirene pointedly. She wanted her to step up. She did.

"Torture is not who we are," she said.

"You've been here for a day, what do you know?" Bellamy challenged, looking at her with that malice that she hated so much.

"Enough to know that you're scared. All of you are. Of people like him," Eirene pointed to the grounder. "But have you stopped to think that maybe they're scared of you, too? Maybe you barged into their home and took what was theirs. This would only cause more violence, more killing, more war. We need to stop it all here before it gets out of hand."

Bellamy stared at her, his face unchanged, for a few moments. But it didn't work. Of course not. His stubbornness would never falter.

"I'm not scared of anything," he said, and followed his goons upstairs.

Eirene wanted to scream, but she had more pressing matters at hand. She strode over to where Finn lay on the table, telling Abby that she was ready to begin. That was a lie.

"Describe the blade's position," Abby requested.

"Um . . . it's at a sharp upward angle, between the sixth and seventh ribs," Eirene responded. Clarke nodded. She had less experience than Eirene, but she had been raised around this stuff, so Eirene trusted her judgement.

"Okay, how deep?"

"I can't tell how deep it goes," Eirene admitted. That was an important piece of information, and she knew that would make the process even harder.

"That's alright." It wasn't.

Raven started pacing. Clarke offered her the moonshine. "Sterilize your hands."

Raven took the bottle, but before she obliged, she took a huge swig out of it. Eirene frowned.

"Eirene, do you see any fluid?"

Just then, a fight broke out between two boys. Eirene rolled her eyes.

"Dammit, clear the room," Clarke told Raven.

Raven did so, yelling at the group of people that were still on the first floor to get upstairs.

Eirene felt Finn's forehead with the back of her hand. "He feels a little warm."

"Okay, that's alright. Fever sometimes accompanies trauma, remember?" Abby said lightly.

"Oh yeah, right," Eirene said, feeling dumb.

"Eirene, I need you to tell me if there's any fluid leaking from the wound."

"Uh . . ." Eirene bent down to examine it, and so did Clarke. Clarke shook her head at Eirene, suggesting her answer. Eirene agreed. "No."

"Pleural membrane's intact," Abby said. "That's good. Really good, actually. He got lucky."

"Hear that?" Raven asked, looking down at Finn with a smile. "You got lucky."

"Okay, Eirene, firm grip on the knife," Abby began. "You're gonna need to angle it upward and to the left—very slightly to the left—as it exits the rib cage."

"How slightly is 'very slightly'?" Eirene asked, looking at her hands. They were shaking. Not a good sign.

"Three mil . . . Eir . . ." Abby's voice came out choppy.

"Wait, what? Abby, you dropped out," Eirene said.

"Three millimeters," Abby said clearly. "Got it?"

"Yeah, okay, three millimeters. Got it," Eirene said shakily. She stared at Finn's still body before her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A vision of her mother appeared, lying on a hospital bed, and she could hear the rapid beeping of the heart monitor counting down like a timer on her life. Eirene gasped, her eyes fluttering back open. She had quit her medical training for a reason.

"I can't do this," she stated simply.

Clarke's eyes widened. "What?"

Raven stepped towards Eirene and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Eirene, you can. You have to."

"Last time I was in this situation, I failed. I can't do it again. I can't," Eirene said weakly, tears in her eyes. The room blurred.

"Eirene?" Abby's voice came softly over the radio. "I know what you're thinking. But, please, you can do this. I have unrelenting faith in you. Your mother did, too. You didn't fail. There are some things we just can't control. But you can control whether this boy lives or not, right here, right now. And you have the talent to save him. So pull the knife out, Eirene. Pull it out."

Eirene's shoulders shuddered as a tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped it away, straightening her posture. She cleared her throat, focused her eyes on the patient before her, and placed her hand on the knife.

As she began pulling it out, Finn coughed.

"He's waking up!" Raven yelled.

"Hold him down," Eirene said calmly. "Finn, I'm gonna get this knife out of you, okay?"

"Good plan," he remarked.

Eirene continued to slowly pull the knife out of his chest. He groaned in agony, but she knew her task. It was almost out, so close, when the dropship rattled harder than ever, sending everyone flying to the ground.

"Clarke? Eirene?" Abby's voice, along with distant screaming, was the only sound Eirene could hear. She stood up to see Finn lying on the ground, and he lifted his head to look up at her. She sighed in relief, looking down at the knife in her hand.

He turned to Clarke, and they stared at each other.

"It's out," Raven said. "She did it!" Her smile only lasted a few seconds before she saw the look exchanged between Clarke and Finn. Eirene definitely noticed.

"Get him back up on the table. I need to stitch him up," Eirene announced.

"Good call, Eirene," Abby praised.

It took ten minutes for Eirene to stitch up the wound. Although it was small, the wire proved difficult to use in place of thread. But she did it, nonetheless.

"Okay, I'm done," Eirene said, sighing.

"Good," Abby said. "Do you have anything to cover the wound?"

"We'll make do," Eirene replied.

"Should he be this pale?" Clarke asked.

"Warm, too?" Raven added.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Abby replied. "But, Raven, if your boyfriend's anywhere near as tough as you, I'm sure he'll be fine."

Eirene felt his skin. "Wait, Abby, she's right. He's feverish, and his breathing's uneven."

"Well, you need to give him some time to recover. Let me know if he gets any worse, but I think—I think he might just be out of the woods."

"Well, down here, there's nothing but woods," Clarke said sarcastically. She stood up. "I need a break."

"Clarke?" Abby asked. "Clarke, wait. Raven, Eirene, could you give us a few minutes?"

"Sure," Raven said, standing. Eirene followed suit.

But Clarke objected. "No, no. Stay with Finn." With that, she left.

Eirene walked across the room to wet a small cloth, and came back to place it on Finn's head. 

"Thank you, Abby," she said. "For helping me through that."

"No problem," Abby said.

"How did you know I was thinking about my mom?" Eirene asked. She had never spoken to anyone about it.

"Please," Abby said. "Medical trainees with skills like yours don't just quit for no reason. After the incident, I was waiting for your call. You're strong, but it's impossible to keep going with your training after that. And I knew you hadn't operated since."

Raven was quietly staring at Finn, and Eirene knew she was taking in all of this new information. She didn't mind. Raven seemed like a trustworthy person. 

Her thoughts were broken up when Finn jerked slightly. Eirene jumped up. She knew what was coming next.

He started seizing vigorously. Eirene shot forward. "Clarke!" she yelled, "He's seizing!"

Clarke hurried down to see him still shaking heavily. Eirene tried reaching out to Abby, but she got no response.

"What the hell happened to Abby?" Eirene yelled.

Raven hurried to the radio, messing with it. "The storm must've cut off our connection!"

Finn slowly stopped shaking, but white foam started forming in his mouth. "Help me get him on his side. Now, Raven, there's fluid in his lungs!"

The three girls rolled Finn onto his side, panting. Eirene felt his forehead. "He's burning up."

"Fluid in his lungs, does that mean the knife hit something?" Clarke asked.

"No, no, if that was the case this would be blood. But it's something else," Eirene observed, keeping calm. "I did everything she told me. What am I missing?"

"Okay, he has shortness of breath, seizing, and fever! Eirene, what does that mean?" Clarke asked frantically.

Eirene thought hard about the flash cards she'd studied so much. This was on one of them. If only she could—

"It's poison!" she exclaimed.

"Eirene, you sterilized everything!" Raven yelled. "I watched you do it!"

"Not everything," Clarke said, walking over to the knife.

She grabbed the knife and started climbing up the ladder. Realizing her train of thought, Eirene followed, telling Raven to stay behind.

On the second floor, Octavia stopped them. "They locked the hatch," she said.

Clarke didn't stop there. She climbed up to the hatch and banged on it. "Hey!" she yelled.

The hatch opened, and Clarke said some inappropriate words when Miller tried to stop her. Eirene followed Clarke, and Octavia followed Eirene.

Clarke strode right up to the grounder, who was now held up by two chains that were attached to his wrists. He had blood covering his whole face, obviously from a beating he had taken recently. Eirene noticed Bellamy, and she knew he had done it. She felt sick.

"What's on this?" Clarke asked, shoving the knife in front of the grounder's face.

"What are you talking about?" Bellamy asked her.

"He poisoned the blade!" Clarke yelled. She turned back to the grounder. "All this time you knew Finn was gonna die no matter what we did. What is it?" she yelled.

The grounder didn't respond.

"Is there an antidote?" Clarke asked desperately.

"Clarke, he doesn't understand you," Octavia chimed in.

"Vials," Bellamy said, walking towards a container with several small bottles in it. "It's gotta be here."

Clarke threw the knife on the ground and grabbed the container. "You'd have to be stupid to have a poison around for this long without an antidote for it." She rooted through them. "Which one?" she demanded.

Again, he didn't respond.

"Answer the question!" Bellamy yelled.

"Okay, maybe the whole yelling method isn't exactly working, guys, have we thought about that?" Eirene asked. They glared at her, but she ignored them.

She walked up to the grounder. "Please. That boy down there, I tried to save him. But there's only so much I can do. He's innocent, he doesn't deserve to die today. I think you know that. So, please, help me out here."

He hesitated, his eyes flickering, but he pursed his lips again in defiance. Eirene wondered if he could speak English, after all.

"Show us," Octavia begged. "Please."

Still, the man stayed silent and stared at them.

"I'll get him to talk," Bellamy said, heading towards the man and pulling his fist back to throw a punch.

"Bellamy, no!" Octavia yelled, surging forward and grabbing his arm to stop him.

Bellamy turned on her. "He wants Finn to die! Why can't you see that?"

One glance at Clarke told Eirene that she was considering going through with Bellamy's plan to torture the man.

Apparently, Bellamy saw that too. "Do you want him to live or not?" he asked Clarke. She was obviously torn.

"Clarke, we can't do this," Eirene said lowly, looking at Clarke with intense eyes. Bellamy scoffed. "Please, just think about what you're doing."

"He was protecting me, he saved my life!" Octavia added.

"We're talking about Finn's life!" Bellamy yelled.

There was a pause as everyone looked at Clarke.

"Do it," she said quietly.

"What?" Eirene sputtered, staring at Clarke in shock. "You're joking."

But she wasn't. Bellamy walked over towards the man. Octavia fought to get to him, but Bellamy's goons held her back. "Just tell us," she pleaded.

Eirene watched as Bellamy cut off a piece of a seatbelt from the wall. He used his knife to cut the man's shirt off. "You're gonna show is the antidote, or you're gonna wish you had," he muttered threateningly.

"Guys, come on, you can't be serious," Eirene said, still somewhat convinced it was all a joke. Torturing someone. Inflicting pain for information. She couldn't imagine doing such a thing, and she especially couldn't imagine Bellamy doing it.

But there he was, right in front of her, getting prepared.

"Eirene," Clarke said, "I don't want this either, but there's no other way."

"There's always another way," Eirene snapped. Clarke just looked away.

Bellamy came back around the face the man, ready with his torture device in hand. Eirene wanted to vomit. She looked back at Octavia, who was still trapped towards the back of the room by Bellamy's goons. Octavia gave her a pleading look, begging her to get Bellamy to stop. Eirene had to try.

"Bellamy, stop!" Eirene surged forward, putting a hand on the arm that held the seatbelt. She looked up into his eyes and saw fear, and panic. He didn't want to do this. "Bellamy, we can do this without going down roads we can never come back from. You are not this person. Don't become this person."

He stared at her for a moment. His eyes were so unlike the ones she used to love that it terrified her. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the new Bellamy was that kind of person after all. The old Bellamy would never have even considered the idea of torture. Maybe she was just two years too late.

But he hesitated. And she thought for a split second that maybe, just maybe, he would put the damn seatbelt down and walk out of here. But he didn't.

"Step back unless you want to get hit by this seatbelt, too," he said. But the malice in his eyes was gone, and he looked at her like he didn't mean a thing he was saying or doing.

She stepped back. Because at this point, she didn't know whether he would actually hurt her or not. She didn't know him anymore. Their dynasty had fallen.

Eirene, Clarke, and Octavia watched as Bellamy swung the seatbelt forward and hit the man with it right in the abdomen. Clarke turned away. Eirene didn't move.

After the second swing, Clarke ran forward and sat on her knees in front of the man. She splayed out all of the vials that he had had in his cave. 

"Please," she begged, looking up at him. "Which one's the antidote?"

"Just tell them," Octavia said.

He still didn't speak.

Bellamy placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder from behind, signaling that she should get up and move. She did so.

The next few minutes went by slower than any in Eirene's life. Bellamy swung and swung and swung. Each hit that the man took seemed to hurt everyone else just as much.

"Enough!" Octavia yelled after the seventh blow.

"Clarke, he's getting worse!" Raven yelled from below.

"We're running out of time," Clarke muttered, returning to her position on her knees in front of the man. 

"Which one is it?" she demanded. "Please, tell us and they'll stop."

The man, again, did not speak. He only stared.

Clarke got up and Bellamy threw the seatbelt down in frustration.

"If that doesn't work, maybe this will," Bellamy said, reaching down to pick up what looked like a large nail from the dropship.

"What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Eirene asked outrageously.

"Clarke, Eirene, you don't have to be here for this," he said, ignoring Eirene's question.

"I'm not leaving until we get the antidote," Clarke said.

Bellamy looked at Eirene. She crossed her arms in response.

Bellamy turned back to the man. "Last chance," he offered.

Nothing.

Bellamy pulled his arm back and shoved the nail right through the man's right hand, which was still tied by the wrist. He grunted in pain but tried to stay as neutral as possible.

"Oh my god," Eirene muttered in disbelief.

"What's taking so long?" Raven's voice called from below as she climbed up the ladder and into the room. "He stopped breathing."

"What?" Clarke burst, moving to the ladder.

Raven stopped her. "He started again, but next time he might not."

"He won't tell us anything," Clarke said, referring to the grounder.

Raven walked over to some thick power cords on the wall. "Wanna bet?" she asked, yanking them free as they sizzled with electricity on the end.

"What are you doing?" Eirene asked, uneasy.

"Showing him something new," she replied, and she stuck the ends of the cords right into the man's abdomen.

He yelled out in pain, unable to contain it. Everyone in the room stared at Raven in shock.

"Which one is it?" she demanded. 

When he didn't answer, she shocked him again, for a longer period of time.

"He's all I have!" Raven all but sobbed, yelling at the man she had just electrocuted.

"No more!" Octavia screamed.

"He's letting Finn die!" Raven screamed back.

With tears in her eyes, Octavia revealed that she was holding the knife the grounder had stabbed Finn with. Then, in one swift movement, she cut a long gash down her arm.

Eirene's eyes widened, but Octavia had cut herself so fast that she couldn't do anything. The poison would already be in her system.

"Octavia, no!" Bellamy yelled.

"He won't let me die," Octavia whispered, looking up at the man.

"Octavia, what the hell did you—" Bellamy tried to grab her, but she shook him off and kneeled in front of the man. She pointed to one of the vials with the knife and asked, "This one?"

The man looked worried, but there was no visible response. Octavia put it down and looked back up at him. He nodded his head a little bit to the right, and Octavia picked up the vial on the rightmost side. 

"This one?" she asked, holding it up in front of him.

He gave a shaky and slow nod, but it was an answer. Finally.

Octavia whipped around and handed the vial to Eirene, who wasted no time in running down to Finn, followed closely by Clarke and Raven.

Eirene ran to his practically lifeless body on the table and lifted his head up, pouring half of the vial into his mouth. She set his head back down and sighed in relief.

"How will we know if it works?" Raven asked.

"We'll know when he wakes up," Eirene replied, placing her hand on top of Raven's. She knew how much Finn meant to her. Raven gave her a tight smile back, her eyes still laced with worry.

"He'll need water when he does," Clarke said. "Do you mind?" she asked Raven.

"Sure," Raven said, disappearing up the ladder.

Eirene watched her go for a moment. "That's not why you really sent her away, is it?"

Clarke smiled sadly. "No, it's not."

"I'll give you some privacy, then," Eirene said, standing up and giving Clarke a squeeze on the shoulder, which she covered with her own hand. After a moment, Eirene let go and climbed up the ladder.

She arrived at the third level, where the grounder was, but Bellamy and Octavia were both gone, and only Bellamy's goons remained, probably making sure the grounder didn't escape. She had grabbed a bucket of water and a piece of cloth on her way up, and she set the materials down by the grounder's feet. He stared at her blankly.

Eirene looked at the nail sticking through the man's hand and decided to just yank it out. The guy was tough enough to take it, she knew that. So, she slid it out as fast as she could, and then brought the newly damp cloth up to his injured hand. Only, he closed his hand into a fist before she could clean it.

She rolled her eyes. "I need to clean this," she said, looking at him.

He simply stared at her.

"You know, I feel like you understand what I'm saying," Eirene said, staring right back at him, "so I hope you know that I was actually opposed to the whole torture thing."

She brought the damp rag back up to his hand, but it remained closed. She sighed.

"Let me try," Octavia said from behind her. Eirene passed her the cloth and she stepped up to the man. When she brought the cloth up to his hand, his fist loosened, and soon his hand was fully open.

Eirene climbed down the ladder because, for some reason, she felt like she should leave Octavia and the grounder alone.


End file.
